Cryptographic schemes allow correspondents to send messages in secret or hidden form, so that only those people authorized to receive the message will be able to read it. Cryptographic schemes are generally based on one of two systems, namely, a private key system or a public key system. In a private key system, the method for data encryption requires the parties who communicate to share a common key. Private key systems have the disadvantage that the users of the scheme have to somehow exchange a common key in a secure fashion before any data is encrypted. This key should also be changed relatively often for other cryptographic reasons.
Whereas private key cryptography utilizes a single key for both encryption and decryption, public key cryptography utilizes several different keys for encryption and decryption. The encryption keys can thus be made public with the decryption keys maintained secret.
Public key systems have been deployed in specific systems. For example, the RSA scheme is a deployment of the general public key scheme. Similarly, discrete log systems and elliptic curve systems are other deployments of the general public key system. Public key systems may also be used to sign messages so that a recipient may verify the origin of the message using a public key of the sender.
Obviously, in a cryptographic system there is the threat of an attacker obtaining or deducing the key, the private key in the case of public key systems, and thereby compromising communication between a pair of users. The lucky recovery by an attacker of one or two keys is not in itself a serious problem, as a particular key can be revoked and disallowed for further use. However, a serious threat to the future resiliency of a particular cryptographic scheme is the ability of an attacker to devise a systematic method whereby a large number, or even all keys, for that system can be recovered. The resistance to such systematic attacks will depend on the underlying system used, but one factor is the key size.
For example, in the RSA scheme, keys of 512 bits or less are extremely vulnerable to a variety of attacks.
Corporate-wide deployment of a specific scheme is normally based on an assumption that the scheme will be secure at least for some time beyond the near future. However, just as cryptographic systems are advancing in their security, so are attackers advancing in devising new attacks against these systems. For example, in the future there may be an advance on the special purpose attack method which attacks a subset of keys for a particular scheme or there may be an advance in a general purpose attack method which attacks essentially all keys. The response to a special purpose attack on a keyed algorithm is to generally exclude weak cases, i.e., keys with a certain weak property. Similarly, a general-purpose attack can be addressed by increasing the primary security parameters to where attacks are again infeasible.
Therefore, there is a need for a cryptographic scheme that is more resilient than the schemes presently in use.